fff, way past deadline

well, blogger was shitty, and i had to leave home and internet access before it was all solved, so now i'm back and trying to slide this in, way late.
but jj inspires, so here's this week's flash fiction, which i couldn't bear to not post.
we had to include:
A Girl
A Whirl
A Curl
Something that unfurls
A Hurl
the girl stepped into the light, wings unfurling from the loosened harness. she didn’t bother taking it off – freedom was already achieved. the wings had a life of their own, stretching and flexing, curling and fluttering delicately, belying the force necessary to power flight. they seemed light, ethereal enough that she was only a child playing dress-up, not a woman with the strength and determination of atlas.
she shrugged. the wings amplified the motion, rippling the air around her like heat visible.
she backstepped slightly to push off, and took 3 quick steps, ending with feet barely dangling into the small dustcloud the first one had stirred before she lifted off. she hovered easily, gathering her thoughts to propel her, carefully weeding out the negatives – efficiency was paramount for a journey like this and she couldn’t afford to waste time and energy on vibes without potential for forward and upward motion.
she’d been planning this since she first realised it was possible – everything she’d done from that moment to this one had been with the singlemindedness of a person obsessed. this was her only goal, and she didn’t want to mess things up now, especially over something as simple as mind-direction.
once the girl felt comfortable, she allowed herself drift higher. she looked up, facing where she was going, cheeks kissed by sun – it was time.
her wings, warmed up now, began working in earnest. to say they flapped would be to deny the beauty of the movement, the depth from which it was generated – this was no mere muscular exertion – this was motion derived directly from her spirit.
she let her thoughts fuel the feathery beating, flying higher and faster than she had before. every other flight had been practice for this one, and she was confident that she knew how much she could push before enjoyment ceased and she fell.
the limitations of her ability never escaped her, and she considered it a necessary part of the gift that she had to enjoy it to perpetuate it. she had to love this journey the whole way, and today had to be the day.
she was all the way up now, flying full out, dipping and soaring again, one with the air currents that buoyed her, thrilled with her personal rollercoaster. she tried a few tricks just for the fun of it, smiling to herself at the knowledge that it could only feed her mission.
she made a big loop across her patch of sky, then pulled up short and used the momentum to go into a spin – her new favourite trick – she liked to imagine herself as a blurry whirl, all colour and movement when she did this, dress flying up around her, wings smoothing themselves into their most streamlined shape, then reopening to slow her turn and glide into another big loop. she loved to curl into her wings and know they’d keep her safe, even while spiralling through the atmosphere, almost out of control…
she came out of her 2nd loop with that thought, and before she realised what she’d done, it was over. as fast as the word “almost” cleared her mind, before it could qualify “out of control”, she lost it.
the girl’s focus was gone, and she felt herself plummeting.
she tried to marshal her thoughts again, tried to pull it together and communicate good vibes to the wings, but it was too late.
she fell, as if hurled down by an angry god, jealous of her talents.
icarus; melted.

walk good.